May 2009

May 28, 2009

It would make the system unsupportable and the only way to recover is to restore the backup created before the database or filestore was modified. (or to load files to a new Vault). Never consider this as a solution to a problem that you may be faced. If you encounter a limitation you should contact Autodesk Support for guidance.

If you have already upgraded to Vault 2010, you might have noticed that the Vault Status Icons in your CAD Integration (and also Vault Explorer) might show that the files that you stored locally are now marked as "Edited Out of Turn" with a Green Circle. This is despite not making any changes to the files in your local workspaces.

The reason for this behaviour is in that Vault 2009 when comparing the status of the local files with those vaulted only the "Checksum" is parsed to decide the status.

In Vault 2010, in addition to the Checksum being checked, it also looks at the "Created" date to better handle the revision based Lifecycle changes made in Vault Workgroup and above.

In Vault 2009, the "Checked In" date of the file never changes upon Check In. But in Vault 2010 when the file is checked in, the "Date Version Created" date is changed to the "Checked In" date. Because 2010 expects the "Date Version Created" date of the file on the local disk to be the "Checked In" date of the latest checked in version of the file and it does not match, it displays a green circle.

If you delete the contents of your local Working Folder, when you "Get Latest Version" from Vault Explorer, the "Created" date of the file on the local disk will match the Vaulted version and the status will show as a white circle. In Vault Workgroup, Collaboration and Manufacturing you could use the Workspace Synchronisation.

If you do not want to delete the contents of your local Workspace, then you can check the file out, with getting a local copy, then check the file back in again making it the latest version.

The way that Vault displays the Vault Status has changed significantly in the 2010 release. Arguably, the biggest difference is how it displays the check in\out status.

In the Vault 2009 family you may remember that if the file is checked out to someone it was indicated by a small cross in the Vault Status icon (on either a green, red or white circle or no circle at all if you did not have the file in the working folder). (See below)

May 21, 2009

You may have noticed a number of movies on this blog. These are not only useful to help explain a workflow or a best practice but they can be immensely powerful in helping us understand the problem that you are facing, without resorting to what I call "Email ping-pong". More so, if you are not familiar with Vault terminology or if English is not your first language.

My personal preference for movie screen capture software is Camtasia (There are others out there). All the movies I post on this blog are produced using this software, but of course, this costs money.

May 15, 2009

THIS POST IS NO LONGER APPLICABLE. IF YOU HAVE AN ISSUE WHERE YOU CANNOT UNINSTALL VAULT, PLEASE LOG A SUPPORT CASE AGAINST INSTALLATION AND LICENSING

When upgrading or reinstalling software, occcasionally, you might encounter problems installing any windows programs because the operating system may think that the software (or a previous version) is still insalled.

Sometimes when you look in Control Panel> Add\Remove Programs, the program you are trying to install is not listed. However, when you go to install them, a setting somewhere on the machine still thinks it is installed and prevents the installation. The behaviour can be caused by something blocking access to a particular registry setting during the programs uninstall, possibly AntiSpyware, Anti-Virus or a Domain Group Policy setting.

There are some useful tools that you can use to help wipe out any registry settings that may still be lurking and may allow you top overcome the problem.

Be very careful how you use it though. It won't delete any installation files, but it will scrub all traces of the software from the registry, so make sure you are sure you have the correct program selected before choosing "Remove".

As well as the above mentioned tool, another free application called "Revo UnInstaller". It is similar to the ""Windows Installer CleanUp Utility" but more powerful and therefore more dangerous. They are both powerful, but use at your own risk.

Use this script to reset your Vault client Profile. Before you run it, understand that you do so at your own risk and that it will reset all your Vault and AutoCAD settings. The next time you run either product it will think it is the first time and any UI customisation will be lost.

Close all applications before running the script

Copy the following into a new txt file, in notepad, save it with a .BAT file extension and double click it to run. (NOTE. On VISTA you will need to Find\Replace the %APPDATA% system variable with %LOCALAPPDATA%)